ENGLISH ELECTRIC (PART TWO)

It seems that progressive music with mood and melody is thriving nowadays, with the bar continually being raised. Bands like Cirrus Bay, Echolyn, Thieves Kitchen, and of course Big Big Train, who themselves seems to continually improve, raising that bar ever so slightly higher with each release. One thing about Big Big Train, their song writing has always been top notch. Earlier releases will find great tracks like 'The Shipping Forecast' (English Boy Wonders), and 'For Winter' (Bard), songs that can rival the current incarnation in terms of composition. What is markedly more impressive with later releases is the arrangements and production. The use of horns, strings, and a myriad of sundry instrumentation give the music a depth virtually unequalled in modern progressive music, lending a needed organic feel to these moody songs, that call for it, hearkening an earlier time in the annals of English history, and the passion and pain of those times is felt, a feat I imagine is difficult for a composer to accomplish, and yet it is accomplished very well. The album opens with a stunner, 'East Coast Racer', as good a track as they've ever done, and an early contender for song of the year. So far it has my vote. The other six tracks are all excellent as well, perhaps dipping just a little in 'Keeper of Abbeys' which has less in the way of chording, where they normally excel. But even this song has an excellent gypsy-like middle section, giving weight to the claim that Big Big Train gets more interesting with every release. I like the fact that they have slowed down just a bit on EE2, allowing the layers upon layers of heartfelt emotion to really shine through. I can't in good conscience give less than five stars for an extremely well written and arranged collection of music.